Slideshow: Smallest Dental Labs Get 3D-Printed Models

A new 3D printer from Stratasys is making digital production of models for crowns, bridges, retainers, and other dental devices affordable for the smallest labs. The company debuted the Objet30 OrthoDesk at the International Dental Show in Cologne, Germany, in March.

Until recently, the dental and orthodontic device industry was a handcrafted business. "Dental technicians were considered artistic masters preparing every crown and bridge by hand," Avi Cohen, director of global dental for Stratasys, told Design News. To make sure these devices fit correctly they are built on top of a model of the patient's teeth and gums. To make the models, the traditional method requires the patient to bite into a tray of gooey silicone at the dentist's office, making an impression. Once it hardens, the impression is sent to the lab, where it's used as a mold, into which gypsum is poured. Creating the model and then making the dental device could take a few weeks.

Digital dentistry and orthodontics began changing all that a few years ago. Today, both devices and models are made with CAD files, plastics, and 3D printers, in much less time. Large labs make a few hundred models per day. But most dental labs are small operations with perhaps five people making about five to 10 models per day. The high cost of a 3D printer that could give the necessary quality and accuracy, around $100,000, has been prohibitive for small labs. Stratasys conducted cost studies to determine the price they could afford, said Cohen. The OrthoDesk is the first low-cost 3D printer dedicated specifically to the dental appliance model industry, and is priced at $39,000 so small labs can afford it.

The desktop-sized OrthoDesk can print up to 20 models in one print run, or about 60 to 70 per day, a tenfold increase in the output of small labs. Accuracy is also improved over previous techniques. You can watch a video here showing owners of dental labs discussing the difference this has made to their businesses.

The materials set for the printer consists of three existing Stratasys materials: MED610 - Clear Bio-compatible, MED670 - VeroDent, and MED690 - VeroDentPlus. These are printed from sealed cartridges weighing 2.2 pounds each, along with a gel-like support material that can be easily removed with a water-jet.

Isn't this just amazing work? Soon enough people will be able to have brand new teeth that fit their gums the perfect way and a fast and efficient manner. Long live 3d printing. At this point it's beyond imagining how far this technology could go. There are some great reviews about that on this local site. A lot of people might find it quite informative.

Indeed, Debera, 3D printing is proving to have far-reaching applications, maybe more than people imagined it would initially. Check out this slideshow I did on 3D printed body parts...this is the future! It's pretty incredible: http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=263240

labwa, thanks for telling us about what this is like on the ground. Your experience reinforces what I'm being told by analysts and manufacturers about how fast the dental industry's use of 3D printing is changing. I just wish my own dentist was paying attention and could become motivated to change labs to take advantage of this technology.

Yes Elizebeth you are correct initially i also used to consider that 3D printers are being used by hobbiests only .But after getting information that they are used in dental and automobile labs i am too astonished to see .Using 3D printers in digital labs will help make the models in less time, more sophisticately ,more neatly ,no special knowledge of computer is required this device is user friendly it eliminates the concepts of large racks in the dentist clincs having files of all patients instead by using 3D Printers all files are digitally stored in the computer in CAD format .It is less space occupying as well.

I am a dental technician. We use a scanner from 3shape who specialise in medical scanning.

The scanning can be done intra-oraliy or at a lab with a stone model.

From there with help from 3shape's cad design software we output in a range of formats depending on the manufacturing unit.

For crown and bridge dental restorations the printers must be accurate to 35 micron(mm) or better. The main printers in our industry at the moment are Envisiontec, 3D systems, Objet, Solidscape, and Asiga.

In my opinion this market is changing extremely fast and the labs and dentists left behind will find their work decrease dramaticaly within 5 years.

3D-Printing have exposed denstists to the digital world. Now denstists can replace bulky, physical gooey silicone models with small digital files. Store all of case files digitally, for as long as they need.

JimT, you're totally welcome. I discovered that fact by Googling to find the manufacturer of 3D-Touch. Although the number of different printers has gotten large, the number of 3D printer manufacturers is still very small.

Thanks for sharing that 3D-Touch was a 3D systems discontinuation – I was not aware of that, at all, and was further mis-led by an associate who is trying to market these machines to buyers. Apparently, he has a small quantity of them and is offering them for sale and support, at $3,900 per system. It seems even more un-attractive now that you've disclosed its discontinued manufacturing status. Thanks!

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